Tape and disk recording and reproducing device



Sept. 23, 1952 M. CA MRAS 2,611,613

TAPE AND DISK RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DEVICE Filed June 1, 1946 4Sheets-Sheet 1- EVEHZZJP M77572 amraas M. CAMRAS S ept. 23,1952

TAPE AND DISK RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DEVICE '4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJune 1, 1946 Ill villi/I111Ill/1111111111114 l llll Sept. 23, 1952CAMRAS 2,611,618

TAPE AND DISK RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DEVICE Filed June 1, 1946 4Sheets-Sheet 5 fial'rz'zz amma Sept. 23, 1952 M c s 2,611,618

TAPE AND DISK RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DEVICE Filed June 1, 1946 4Sheets-Sheet 4 l N V EN TOR. Ndrmn amrw & H TTYE.

Patented Sept. 23, 1952 TAPE AND DIS ECQ DING P aaraonu c nrv st Marvincamms', "Chic g 111., assi norto Arnie! Research oun f B inds In t te sfol y Q i I 1, aeeewetien i r w n ApplicationJune "1;, 1946, Serial No.673,740

This invention relates to a soundv recordin and reproducing device, andmore particularly. to a combination'magnetic recording and reproducingdevice with a diskrecord spiral groove type reproducing device.

One of the principal featuresand objects of the present invention is-toprovide ansimple and inexpensive sound recording and reproducing devicewhich will play both magnetic records recorded on an elongated travelingrecord medium, as well as to playrecords of the conventional disk type.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novelcombination magneticrecording and reproducing device with a disk recordtype reproducing device in which the turntable serves the dual purposeof carrying a diskrec- Old as well as the take-up spool for theelongated magnetic record member.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a noveldrive mechanism for. sound recording and reproducing devices.

Another and still further objectof .this'invention is to provide anovelwinding andreeling mechanism for a magnetic recordingand-reproducing device.

Still another and further object-:of theiinvention is to provide novelslip clutches orlbrakes for a winding and reeling mechanism.

The novel features which I believe :tobecharacteristic of my inventionareset forth with-particularity in theappended claims. Myinventionitself, however, bothas toits organizatiommanher of construction andmethod of operation, to-

gether with further objects and advan es thereof, may best be understoodbyreierence to the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in-which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a sound recording and reproducing deviceembodying the novel principles and teachings of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view-similar to Figure l but with a disk record in placeon the turntable;

Figure 3 is an elevational view -of-;t h e mechanism shown in Figure lwith certainpar-ts broken away;

Figure 4 is an enlarged 81B;V8, 13i0I l3 1*Yi ,Wi-0fthe tiltable motorand its associated mounting structure; I

Figure 5 is an enlarged {View of, the supply spool spindle and one-waybrake mechanism; the latter being shown in vertical section;

Figure 6 is an enlarged undereview of the structure shown inv Figure 1;

Fi ure 7: isan enlarged Lfrasmentars' v wof? V ered. witha felt tha i'-the...drive.r0l1s shown in Figure -6, but. ;in,the ir position forrewindiri'g the elon ated B Q G In diumonthesupplyspool; j

.lFigure 8.1is alview similanto Figure H but showing the drive rolls in,their position to drive the 'combinationturntable andtake-upspo l; and

Figuresis a diagrammatic illustration in block ;diagram of theelectrical circuit of, the sound recording; and reproducing. dfivioe.

:In Figures '1 tot of the drawings, I haveillustrated 'the essentialmechanical mechanism of Ione embodiment .of :my. novel sound s recordingandreprcducing device. Asmayqbestbe seen in Figures 1', 2 and 3, thestructure includesahase platelil which is arrangedto be mounted inanyconventional radio and which. is somewhat similar in size and shape .tothe *base plate of a conventional automaticrecord changer. On the baseplate H a takeoft 513001.12; upon which'the wire I3 is normally stored;is mountediforj-rotation on the hub 14 carried bythelshaft 15,. The wireI3 is illustrative of' anyielongated record member 7 and formed, atleast in partgof atmater'ial of relatively ihigh' coercive force inorder that magnetic recordsflmay be retained thereon. Onitheoppositeside of the; base His a combination turntable and take-up spoellfi whichisl mdunt'ed forrotation on a shaft I '1. {This combination turntable.and take-up SDQQIHJ'HIQQGES anflat upper, surface .1 tzw ic is p e eabl se u qnwh c th rre o t9 rests when it isslipped over the end or theshatter-spin l s .ntableand take-up spoo The inatio f I 1.6 also in udesout. ard viaq n shannel .0

tionii in itm ter:r erirlieral;edg w ichiis arran ed to receiv an elonated reqc dlmembe l3 and hie-wo nd eres Di p se between V supply sp oll2 a d the tats-1 p m h ndiurntable 16 isiam enet c ,tran du erhead 2 93wh ch the-wire 1- s e Th s maeneticetran r e hea s? I as il 'f-liers nite be re erre t in dis u si hee ectric l irq i ith pIQSBW .as ratusiarran d tee hvade PiQlHlDj; head :or a c a ma net an eras rad- :D m ed'.betwe n th -ma neti g r nsdii er hea Land-t smr nwh T i le hou in .1?which 1, ein a 5 cut. me hanis io eh e 1 3 the, ann retu whe is t-net la m tic .st amss ia i stl- IQtms n vsa t s the Pr e ar a-sto e' h nd ofth r w ire se ll lie hligl ht wa s but 1 ,-ass ntedaedasleime -m mend ne il ea z se -"N0- M B ..iles --*ie ts ee iastsr s' -Masf i liee llstrate infid l-i 3 filed February 18, 1946, now Patent No. 2,572,985,issued October 30, 1951.

In addition to the magnetic transducer head 2|, 2. conventional tone arm23 is provided for cooperation and use with the disk record 19 when suchis to be played. It will be understood that this tone arm 23 carries aneedle 24 which is retained in the end of the tone arm by a set screw Acontrol arm 26 is rigidly secured to a rotat able shaft 21 and isarranged to be moved into engagement with a stop pin 28 when it isdesired to rotate the combination turntable and take-up spool 16 in aclockwise direction, and into engagement with a stop pin 29 when it isdesired to rotate the supply spool l2 in a counter-clockwise direction(for rewinding).

As may be seen best in Figures 3 and 4, a motor 30 is provided fordriving the rotating mechanism of the device. This motor 30 is mountedfor ro- -tation of its armature shaft 3| about substantially a verticalaxis. To this end, the motor 38 is pivotally supported in a pair ofdepending arms 32 by pins 33, the arms 32 being secured to the baseplate I l by screws 34. The control arm shaft 21 which carries thecontrol arm 26 extends down alongside of the motor 30 and into threadedengagement with an ear 35 which is secured to the motor casing by a bolt36. The car 35 is apertured and threaded as at 31 to receive thethreaded end 38of the shaft 21. It will thus be understood that when thearm 26 is moved from engagement with one stop pin into engagement withthe other stop pin 29, the motor is rocked about its trunnions 33 whichsupport it on the depending arms 32. As will presently be explained,this rocking movement of the motor 30 determines whether the combinationtake-up spool and turntable i6 is to be driven or whether the'hub Mwhich carries the supply spool is to be driven.

The mounting mechanism of the hub l4 may be seen best in Figures 3 andof the drawings. The hub I4 is formed as an integral part of a drum 39which is provided with an offset shoulder 40 at its upper edge which isarranged to lie just 1 slipped over the hub I 4, the hub I4 is slightlytapered as is clearly shown in the drawings; A plurality ofspring-pressed balls 42 are retained in the upper end of the hub l4 andare arranged to engage detents 43 in the upper edge of the bore of thespool l 2 (see Figure 1). These springpressed balls 42 cooperating withthe detents 43 in the spool l2 serve not only to retain the spool on thehub l4, but also prevent relative rotation of the spool I2 with respectto the hub l4.

The support for the hub I4 is provided by a bracket or bridge member 44.The bracket or bridge member 44 supports a bearing block 45 which, inturn, carries a pair of bearings 46 and 41 through which the shaft [5extends. A stationary brake shoe 48 is secured to the bearing supportingblock 45 and this brake shoe 48 is provided with a central aperturewhich is slightly larger than the shaft [5. A cooperating brake shoe 49is rotatably mounted on the shaft l5, and confronts the stationary brakeshoe 48. Disposed between the two brake shoes 48 and 49 is a disk ofsuitable braking material 58. A light helical spring 51 seated on a disk52 supported by a spur gear 53 normally urges the shoe 49 in an upwarddirection toward the shoe 48. A one-way brake mechanism in the form of aspiral spring 54 wrapped around the shaft (5 and secured at p.brakingfunction will beobtained on the hub l4 when the take-up spool I6is being driven, and will run free when the hub I4 is being driven in acounter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure l ofthe drawings. Thisone-way brake 'type of mechanism for the spring 54 tends to wrap'uptighter when the shaft rotates in one direction, and tends to uncoil orride free when the shaft is rotated in the other direction.

In order to level wind the wire on the take-up spool 16 when wire isbeing unwound from the supply spool l2, the magnetic transducer head 2iis moved vertically back and forth. This level winding action isobtained from a power take-off from the shaft 15. More particularly, thespur gear 53 .is secured to the shaft l6 by a nut 55 which isthreadedonto the lower threaded end of the shaft l5. It is to be understood thatthe gear 53. is secured in such a manner that it has no relativemovement with respect to the shaft [5. A level wind shaft 56 having adouble thread cut therein in the. conventional manner is mounted in asleeve 5'! carried by a plate 58'which, in turn, is supported by a pairof depending arms 59 and 8H. 1 A gear. 6! is secured to-the level windscrew 56 and is enmeshed with the spur gear 53.

To one side of the drum 33 and depending from the base plate H is aguide pin 62; Extending between the guide pin 62 and the level windscrew '56 is an arm 63. One end of the armr63 slides up anddown on theguide pin 62 as the other end of the arm is moved up and down byrotation of the level wind screw 56. It will thus be apparent that thisarm always remains in a horizontal position, but moves up and down byvirtue of the rotation of the level wind screwin the lefthand endthereofas viewed in Figures? and 5 of the drawings.

A follower pin- 64 for the double reverse helical groove of the levelwind screw 55 ismounted in the end of the arm '63. As the reduced end 65of this pin 64 is seated in the groove 66 of the level vwind'screw56,the level wind screw 56 causes up and down movement of the arm 63 inthe conventional manner. As may be seen best in Figures 3 and 6 ofthe'drawings, a second arm 61 is secured to the right-hand end of thearm 63 and moves therewith. The right-hand end of the arm 63 and theleft-hand end of the arm 6! lie in overlapping relationshipisee Figure3) and they are apertured as at 68 and 69 to enable the guide pin 62 toextend therethrough and to permit free sliding movement of the arms 63and 6'! on the guide pin 162. I

The arm 61 extends arcuately upwardly as viewed in Figure 3 of thedrawings and supports the transducer head 2-l at the upper end thereof.

The support for the shaft I! is quite similar to the support for theshaft-.45 as may be seen from an inspection of Figures 3 and 6 of thedrawings. A bracket or bridging member 10 is secured to the undersurfaceof the base plate H by screws H. A second depending strap bracket 12 issecured by screws 13 to the main bridging member 10. The shaft l1extends down through a bearing 14 which is supported in a sleeve orcollar l5'which carries the upper stationary brake shoe 1B. The brakeshoe I6 is similar to the brake shoe 48 which is associated with theshaft I5. A spring biased lower brake shoe 1! cooperganged ates througha disli-cf suitable braking material 18. The lower brake shoe Tl i'sspring biased in an upward direction by the helical spring 19 and isprovided with a one-way grabbing coil spring 80 which has its upper'end'secured to'thebrake shoe'i'i and has its-lower end-lying loosely onthe shaft ll; v A spring adjusting nut 91 is provided'opposite the endof the shaft H.- The brake shoes '76 and TI- together with the coilspring 89 cooperate in such a manner that no drag is placed on the shaftl1 when the take-up spool and turntable [6 are rotating in aclockwise-direction, as viewed in Figure lof the drawings, but dobause'a drag to beplaced on the shaft 11 when thesupply spool I2 isbeing rewound, or in other words, rotated in a counter-clockwisedirection as viewed in Figure 1 so thatwhen the wire l-3 isbeingwound-up on-the drum 20' of the element 'l-6,the-lower brake shoe11- is being 'heldstationary'against the upper brake shoe J6; When thewire 13 "is being'rewound onto the supply spool l2, the -wire spring 88winds tight on theshaft i1 and-causes the lowerbrake shoe TI to rotateWiththe shaft l7 against the upper brake shoe -16 which i-s stationary.Thisputs a drag on the shaft i1 and holds thewi-re taut across the-head2|.

The cooperating brake shoes 48 and 49 associated with-the-shaft-leoperate in a similar manner to thatdescribed above, except in a reversedirection.

Reference has already been made to the fact that the member 16 is acombination take-up spool and turntable. The member 16 is rimdrivenbyproviding a peripheral-flange 82 which isarranged' to be engaged by arubber-tired idler wheel 83 mounted for free rotationby a pin 84 onalink" arm -85. The link arm 85 is hinged or pinned as at 89 toa crankarm 8! which is pivoted at 88. The crank arm 81 is actuated through anL-shape leaf spring 89 which has one leg thereof rigidly secured to thecrank arm 81 and the other leg thereof sprung over the corner 90 ofthedownwardly depending portion of the bridge member 10.

The armature shaft 3| of the motor carries a rubber tired drive wheel-9|arranged to engage the-peripheral flange or drum portion 39 of the hubI4, and it also is provided with a metal'drive portion 92' which isarranged to engage the idler wheel 83.

Ithas already been explained that the motor 30' is arranged for Iimitedrocking movement by angular movement of the shaft '21 aboutitslongitudinal axis through movement of the con trol lever '26. It willbe understood that when the controllever- 26' is moved into engagementwith the stop pin 28, the motor 30 is rocked to a position where thedrive portion 92 is forced into engagement with therubber tired idlerwheel 83 and which, in turn, forces the rubber tired idler wheel intoengagement with the peripheral flange 82 above theturntable [6, therebyto drive the turntable l6. 1

Similarly, when the control lever 26 is moved into engagement with thestop pin '29, the motor is rocked to a position where the rubber tireddrive wheel 9| presses against" the flange portion39 of the hub M tedrive the supply spool l2in'a rewind direction.

Also mounted on the shaft 21' is a C-shaped finger 93 which engages theleaf spring 89'. The'actionof this C -shaped finger 93 with the leafspring 89' is exemplified in Figures6, 7 and 8 of the drawings: Moreparticularly;"when the shaft 2'! is angularly movejdabout itslongitudinal axis to a rewind position; the "motor armature shaft 31moves the drive wheel 9! into engagement with the peripheralflange 39'of the supply spool assembly. At the same time; the 'O-flnger 93depresses the central portion of the spring 89 to forcethe crank arm" 81in a clockwise direction asviewedinhigurelofthe' drawings. This moves;the idlehwheel incompletely free and clear of both the drive shaftportion 92" as Well as the peripheral'fiangeil'l "of the turntable H5(see Figure 7 In its intermediate position; the control lever 26 stillcauses somefjdepression'of the free arm of' the leaf spring-89;'thuscausing the idler wheelBB. toj be free'ofboth the drive shaft portio'n92as well as *theperipheral flange a v W When the control lever 26- is-moved to" its turntable drive position ;(as shown in Figure B of thedrawings) the c finger 93- is free of the free arm of the leafspring 89In thispo'sitionithe spring pressure exerted byrthe leaf spring memberiiil-betweentheferankarm 87 and the-corner 90 tends to draw the crankarm itl ina counterclockwise direction which forces-the idler wheel 93tightly between the drive shaft portion 92 and the peripheral flange 8 26 "the turntable "l6;

In Figure 9 of the drawing have illustrated diagrammatically'tlieelectric l "ci-rcuit "of the combination sound recordin' "andreproducing unit. The above mechanical-structure is associated with an-'audio-amplifier 94 whose input is connected to the mcvable contact arm95 of a multi-position switch which includes, inaddition to the movablecontact arm 95, stationary contacts 96, 91, 98" and 99a Thestationarycontact 96 is connected to the output of an amplitudemodulation tuner unit I00 thrmign anattenuator resistance H6. Moreparticularly, this is'a superheterodyne tuner unit and includesconventional converter and intermediatefrequency stages as well as adetector. The'stationary contact 9'! is connected to a microphone llli.l he stationary contact 98 is connected'to the crystal pick-up of thetone arm -23 throughan attenuator resistance 1 H. The-stationary con"-tact 99 is connected througha choke -coil I92 to the transducer head 2|.

82- on the turntable-16 (see Figure-S of the" draw I An oscillatorl03'for use in conj'unc'tion with I magnetic recording isconnectedthrough a switch [0! and a high frequency by -pass condenser 'fllll tothemagnetic' transducer 2! through conductor H5. The oscillator I03 maybeef any suitable frequency which is used as a high frequency biasin'the magnetic recording "operation and may, byway of'example, be inthe neighborhood of 20 to 30-kilocyclesy V v The output of the audioamplifiei il l is connected to a movable contact arm I I0 of a twoposition switch'which also includes stationary c0ntacts' ill and H2.Stationary contact [1 is connected'to a loud speaker,l'l'3,;whilethestationary contact H2 is connected'through the choke I02 to themagnetic-transducer 2|. A shunt resistance H4 extends {across 'theswitch Iii tothe stationary contact 111, so that when the movablecontactarm H0 "is-mo vedintoengagement with stationary contact H-Lsomecurrent is still fed to the loud speaker H3:

The operationof the circuit will now be'desQribcd: Withtheswitcharmsi95; I01 and] min theirp'ositi'on as showninldlig e 9 ofthedrawinesth tiisbp rat a nv t alira receiver. To operate the uni-tasa'public" address.

system, the switch arm 95 is moved into engagement with the microphonecontact 91. If the unit is to be operated a a conventional recordplayer, the movable contact arm 95is moved into engagement with thestationary contact 98 which is connected to the tone arm 23. The pick-upof the tone arm 23 is thus fed directly through the audio-amplifier tothe speaker H3.

,In the operation of the device as a disk record player, it will also beremembered that the control lever 26 is moved into engagement with thestop 28, thereby to cause rotation of the turntable IE to rotate therecord l9 supported thereon.

If the device is to be operated as a magnetic record player to reproducea recording from the wire 13, the movable contact arm 95 is moved intoengagement with the stationary contact 99; the wire I3 is passed overthe transducer head 2| and connected to the combination turntable pickupspool l6 and the control lever 26 is moved into engagement with the stoppin 28 to cause rotation of the turntable (6 in a clockwise direction asviewed in Figure l of the drawings. The magnetic energy on the wire 13 ichanged into electrical impulses in the magnetic transducer head 2| andfed through the choke Hi2, stationary contact 99, movable contact 94 andthe audioamplifier 94 to the speaker I l3. 7

When it is desired to make a magnetic record from an incoming radioprogram, the switch 95 is moved into engagement with the stationarycontact 96, the switch I I is moved into engagement with the stationarycontact 2' and the switch i0! i moved into engagement with itsstationary contact I01. The control lever 26 is also moved intoengagement with the stop pin -28 to cause rotation of the combinationturntable and take-up spool [6 in a clockwise direction as viewed inFigure 1 of the drawings. After the record hasbeen made, the wire l3 maybe rewound on thesupply spool 12 by moving the control lever 26 intoengagement with stop pin 29 and by opening switches 95, I01 and I [0.

A recording may be made from the microphone ml in the same manner bysimply moving the movable contact element 95 into engagement withstationary contact 91 instead of into engagement with stationary contact96. The phonograph record which is being played by the machine itselfmay also be simultaneously recorded on the wire by moving the switch 95into engagement with the stationary contact 98 with the other switchesand control lever in the position as described in connection with therecording of the radio program.

From the above description, the extreme versatility of this device willbe immediately apparent. The speed of rotation o'f-the turntable I 6 is,of course, governed by the conventional speed for which disk records areto be played. The most common speed in use today i 78 revolutions perminute. The speed of travel of the wire i3 across the magnetictransducer head 2i is controlled by governing the depth of the groove20, 0am other words, the diameter ofthe bottom of this groove 20. Indevices which I have constructed in accordance with the illustratedembodiment of the present invention, the wire speed has been two feetper second for a turntable speed of 78 revolutions per minute' While Ihave shown a certain particular embodiment of my invention, it will, ofcourse, be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, sincemany modifications may be made, and I, therefore, contemplate by theappended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

l. A sound reproducing device comprising a supporting plate, a diskrecord supporting turntable rotatably'mounted on said supporting plate,said turntable including a radially outwardly facing channel in theperipheral surface thereof for receiving an elongated magnetic recordmember, a hub mounted on said plate for rotation about an axissubstantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said turntable, saidhub being arranged to carry a spool having an elongated record memberwound thereon and extending into wind-up engagement withsaid turntable,an electro-magnetic transducer head mounted between said hub and saidturntable for limited back and forth motion along'a path substantiallyparallel to the axes of rotation of said turntable and said hub, amotor, means for selectively driving said turntable or said hub fromsaid motor, means driven from said hub for moving said transducer headback and forth along said path of movement when said hub is rotated,said transducer head lying in the path of movement of said magneticrecord member when said record member is being transferred from saidspool to said turntable, and a tone arm associated with said turntablefor engagement with a disk record when a disk record is supported onsaid turntable.

2. A sound reproducing device comprising a supporting plate, a diskrecord supporting turntable rotatably mounted on said supporting plate,said turntable including a radially outwardly facing channel in theperipheral surface thereof for receiving an elongated magnetic recordmember, a hub mounted on said plate for rotation about an axissubstantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said turntable, saidhub being arranged to carry a spool having an elongated record memberwound thereon and extending into wind-up engagement with said turntable,an electro-magnetic transducer head mounted between said hub and saidturntable for limited back and forth motion along a path substantiallyparallel to the axes of rotation of said turntable and said hub, amotor, means for selectively driving said turntable or said hub fromsaid motor, means driven from said hub for moving said transducer headback and forth along said path of movement when said hub is rotated,said transducer head lying in the path of movement of said; magneticrecord member; When said record member is being transferred from saidspool to said turntable, atone arm associated with said turntable forengagement with a disk record when a disk record is supported on saidturntable, oneway brake means associated with said turntable to places.dragon said turntable when said hub is being driven by'said motor towind up said record member on said spool,-a nd one-way brake meansassociatedwith said hub to place a drag on said hub when said turntableis being driven to wind up said' record member on said turntable.

3. A sound reproducing device comprising a supporting'plate, a diskrecord supporting turntable having'a depending shaft rotatably mountedon said supporting" plate, said turntable including a radially outwardlyfacing channel in the peripheral surface thereof for receiving anelongated magnetic record member, a hub having a depending shaft mountedon said plate for rotation about an axis substantially parallel to theaxis of rotation ofsaidturntable; said hub being arranged to carry aspool having an elongated record member wound thereon and extending intowind-up engagement with said turntable, an electroma netic transducerhead mounted between said hub and said turntable for limited back andforth motion along a path substantially parallel to the 5 axes ofrotation of said turntable and said hub, a motor having a rotatabledrive shaft, means for selectively driving said turntable or said hubfrom said motor drive shaft, means driven by one of said shafts formoving said transducer head back and forth along said path of movementwhen said one shaft is rotated, said transducer head lying in the pathof movement of said magnetic record member when said record member isbeing transferred from said spool to said turntable, and a tone armassociated with said turntable for engagement with a disk record when adisk record is supported on said turntable.

MARVIN CAMRAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number Number 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Purdy Feb. 4, 896Seymour Mar. 9, 1897 .Engl Sept. 29,1925 Steurer Jan. 20, 1931 CohenSept. 1, 1931 Burk 1 Sept. 22, 1931 Maibohm July 26, 1932 Bosco 1 Mar.27, 193 1 Kuchenmeister Mar. 27, 1934 Von Arco Sept. 24, 1935 Hickman 4Oct. 26,1937 Marsen Dec. 23, 19 18 Begun Dec. 13, 1949 Howey Ma 30, 1950FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany June 2, 1932 Great Britain Nov. 19,1932 Switzerland Dec. 16, 1947

